SCHOOL'S out, and so are MEPs, with a six-week break from Parliament and the opportunity to spend time in constituencies, listening to voters and preparing topics to take to Brussels in August.
The break coincides with show season in Wales, with the agricultural fairs providing a great day out for the family and celebrating Welsh heritage, but also playing host to debates on business, farming and politics.
A hot topic in relation to Europe is reform of Common Agricultural Policy. Over the summer the Commission will begin an impact assessment on CAP proposals and will present findings to Parliament.
Common Agricultural Policy is 50 years old and predates UK ascension into what was the European Economic Community but, with ever expanding political capabilities, is now the EU. CAP has always been controversial and over the years has seen France benefit overwhelmingly from subsidies.
Borne out of a post war deal between industrial Germany and agrarian France to exchange agricultural products for open trade, CAP saw financial support for French farmers by Germany at a time of widespread shortages.
The model for CAP has altered as new countries joined the EU, yet many remain restricted from claiming full subsidies, despite having agriculturally focused economies. The UK rebate was awarded in the 1980s due to UK contributions, based on GDP, grossly outweighing money recouped, with some 60% of EU budget for CAP and Britain being geographically small and less agrarian.
Despite the rebate, the UK remained a net contributor, although the last Government agreed to cut it 20%. Today CAP still accounts for some 40% of the budget and continues to subsidise farmers for yield.
There are however two sides of CAP, Pillar I and Pillar II. Over the years Pillar I has come under fire for incentivising over-production and stockpiling produce, to be sold to the developing world for low prices.
The EU meanwhile places large import tariffs on produce coming in, stunting economic development in poor non-EU countries and flooding their markets with cheap European goods.
Food prices in Europe have been kept artificially high for consumers while farmers struggle to sell produce for more than the cost of production. There are also gaping discrepancies between farms that profit from CAP while others struggle to stay afloat. All in all, there is call for great reform, especially of Pillar I.
It has been proposed CAP be refocused in conjunction with climate change policy, extending Pillar II to reward water conservation, carbon sequestration and reforestation. This is seen in the proposed Welsh Asssembly Glastir scheme. It’s unclear what impact this would have on Pillar I.
My fear is with emphasis on green policy, vital subsidies will be redirected while Europe imports more from abroad. I am gathering opinions and will scrutinise the CAP reforms as they develop.
I am concerned that if land conservation and high yields are concurrently rewarded, we could see an increase in factory farming where large numbers of animals are kept indoors rather than using traditional grazing and farming methods.
A number of constituents in Mid Wales have contacted me about the construction of chicken sheds, and I would be interested to hear opinions from across the board.
In Wales we are set to be questioned on reform ourselves in the shape of the referendum on further law making powers for the Welsh Assembly Government.
It is interesting to see debate with America over the release of the Lockerbie Bomber, Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, where David Cameron is directing criticism to the Scottish Parliament while Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has pointed the finger at then Home Secretary David Miliband.
Do we want to progress down a road of increasing separation and would it really benefit Wales? I certainly don’t think trading our relationship with Westminster for deeper integration in Brussels is right and imagine many people share these sentiments. However, despite many voters opposed to further law making powers, party leaders in Cardiff Bay support the “Yes” campaign. Perhaps this is why there is a call to hold the referendum ahead of Welsh Assembly elections, despite costing the tax payer an extra £5million.
It seems Assembly Members don’t wish to disenfranchise voters of the “no” camp when it comes to electing AMs.
When Westminster announced a UK referendum on the alternative vote system and suggested it for the same day as Welsh Assembly and English local elections, I proposed all three votes should be held simultaneously, reducing costs and ensuring greater turn out. I coined the proposal “Super Thursday”.
Since then, Presiding Officer Plaid AM Lord Dafydd Elis Thomas, has reiterated this, even using the term “Super Thursday” himself! A number of political figures see sense in holding multiple ballots on the same day, as is the model in America.